Agricultural cultivator



2 sheets-snaai 1 A. B. CIJNTS4 AGRICULTURAL GULTIVATOYR E led March 19. 1925 June 29 1926.

June 29 1926. 1,590,498

A. B. vCOUNTS AGRICULTURAL CULTIVATOR Filed March 19. 1925 2 Shee'c,'s-Shee%l 2 Patented June 29, 192s.

UNITED S TA S ABSALOM B. COUNTS, OF VERNONIA, OREGON.

` AcifmcnnrURAL CULTIVATOR.

Y Application filed March My invention relates to` improvements in' agricultural implementsfor dressing the top surface of they seed bed to formy a finely pulverized surface, and' is especially valuable in forming a mulch of the top surface toire-- tain the moisture during the growing season of the crop to be planted` upon the surface' thus prepared.

A further yobject of my inventionl isto provide aV device that may be' self-propelling or drawnV by ain exterior force.

A further object of my invention is to providel a reciprocating head.y adapted to being manipulated' inareciprocating manner toy thoroughly a-gitate the soil surface" to be treated.

lith these a-nd'- incidental objects in' view, the invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combi-nation of parts, the essentialelement of Whichare set forth in the appended claims and toa preferred form` of embodiment of which is hereinafter shown with referencev to the drawings, which accompany andi formv a part. of this specilicaition.

Fig. 1 is an assembled plan view of my invention. l i Y Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. Sis a rea-r end view' of the mechanism shown in F-igs. l'and 2.

Fig. l is a plan vievv'of the shuttle, or cutting knife, carrying member adapted to being reciprocated.

Fig. 5 is av side viewv of the mechanism show-n in Figrl.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5, taken on `line 5 5, looking in the direction indicated.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, detached, end View of the frame structureA ofthe machine, the suspending mechanism and: guideways for the reciprocating head1 andfthje lever system adapted to* raise`v and lower' thesame.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary 'end' View` ofv the cutting knife carrying bar;

to being 'attached`v to thee reciprocating' bar. Fig; IO is an" inverted plan view' of the' member shown inFig, 9^.

n laverie? permites het 19; 1925.. serial No. 16,725.

Like reference characters; refer to like parts throughout Vthe several views;

My device' is preferably carried upon structural frame 1, shown supportedy upon. tivo primari-y Wheels 2', and 3f, located a either' gilde olif-the'- frame structure, and having disposed therethrough. ,fs-tub axles lV and- 5.v A.. pilot Wheel 6, is disposed at the: Afor- Walrd end ofthe deviceand is-steered through a steering column: 7?., a: gear arrangement 8, a steeringv colfum-nv 9, and asteeringwheel 1 0, supported' through the bracketv 11. To facilitate manual Vmanipulation of the device, a` seat 12', is. provided at a; convenient location. Within.l the mechanism;

I do not' limit myself asfto the means for propelling my device, as@ it may be selfprope'lled., or it may be drawn by a tractor or other draft means.` In the' event' that it is not self-propelled, then' the operating power may :be obtained through. proper power connection arrangements.

In a preferred form or. embodiment of my mechanism` I have shown: a base 1-3,

mountedy forward of the ltransverse a-'Xis of the frame structure, having placed thereon a pri-'me mover 14, generating a suiiicient power to operateI the mechanism. This power' unit is connected through proper driving means, asiaV chainl', to a sprocket 16, which is connected to the shaft 17, through properv operatingv and disconnecting clutches. A bevel gear 18,. is disposed at the opposite end .of the` shaft 17,. and engages With` the main' driving. gear 19, secured to the shaft' 20,.Whi`ch islproperly supported and housed in the suitable bea-rings Within the frame structure as' shown at 21 and 22'. A. proper and adequate gear reduction mechanism, consisting of a Worm gear 23', coacting With a; suitable Wornrivheel 24, is provided. The reduction gear is proper-ly' housed. to assure the same being maintainedy from contamination. of dust or other" foreign-r substajnces; The Worm Wheel is secured to tleina-in:shaft` k25, which is properly housed@ Withinfa frame; structure in suitable' bearings and has af. suital'ile.y clutch 26'; disposed: upoir-either endv of' thel same andi-isadapted?l to 'being' engaged.. and disen-` gaged. with; the stub-axlesafandg, supporting; the? primary wheels .by .lever l.system The shaft 20, terminates on its rear end with a crank disk 28, which has a wrist pin 29, disposed thereon to which is attached pitman 30.

rEhe primary supporting wheels are made suostantially large in diameter' to per nit of the mounting below the main frame, of a guideway 33, which is secured to the main frame by support members Sil, and is held in alignment by br ces 82, and supports the structural reciprocating'head The reciprocating head Se, `has secured thereon a rack 35, and ceac-ting with rack 35, is gear segment 36, which is oscillated about a supporting shaft 3?, mounted within a bracket 38. rhe pitman 3l) is secured to the arm 39, by pin efO, and the crank disk 38 is rotated, a reciproeatingmovement is imparted to the head.

lThen necessary or desirable, the guideway may be raised or lowered, and to accomplish this l have provided a crank shaft el, secured to the main frame and operated by lever 42, rilhe lever e2, is held in a locked position by a detent, operated by leve-r a5, entering the notches e4, of the detent quadrant 43. The support members 3l act `ruideways and permit tl e raising and lowering of the i guideway 33 therealong, through the action of the. hell crank 46, connected by the link 11:7, and the pins 48 and 49, to the guidew'ay 33; and vertical guideways upon the vguideway in slidable contact with the supporting members 3l, prevent thel main frame from being' actuated as the guideway is raised and lowered. vccause of the rapidity of the movement of the head carrying` the har to which the cutter teeth are. secured, have found it necessary to cushion the movement of the head at theend of each stroke. To accomplishA this l: haveprovided the cushionineI heads 50 and 5l, disposer in the pat-h of travel of the head, the lsaine boing secuizdy to the smpended guideivay, and has suitable cusnioning means, as sl-'nfings 'Qand 0, cured thereto, to ahsorb'the shock` generate-z in the reciprocatii'ig' head, at .the end of each stroke. 4

Disposed upon the sidesy and transversely of the reciprocating head are guide strips 54, actuated within the guide slots The reciprocating head is preferably made of two main members, an upper 5G, and a lov:- cr member 57, yand hiuiing` hinged connecA tion therebetween as shown at e mary object of this hinged relation to permit of a Vhingii down of the -ovver or cut-ter tooth carrying member 57,' in the event ofthe same having contacted with an obstructionin its line of travel, as shown in the. dotted position of F152. 7. Secured to the lowerI member 57, by suitable fasten ing 'nieansg'as'boltsf 1s springl 59, ternnnating upon its upper end 1n a hook 60, To-

eating holes G1, are disposed within the upporting` frame to which is attached pin 6i', disposed in the line of travel of the spring 59, so that the hool: end of 60, will Contact `with the pin and limit the amount of hinging down action of the lower member 57. To return Vthe member 5T, to normal closed position, haveplaced transversely of the same a rod G3, supported in suitable bearings 64e, and having` a suostantial spring- 65, thereupon to maintain the member 57, in closed condition, excepting when a substantial obstruction, as a stump or stone or' other foreign fixed object is met, at which time the hinging down action wili occur to permit of the passing over of the same. Y

The tooth carryingr lower member 57, has openings therethrough to permit of the location of the cutter teeth, and fastenings, .such as threaded nuts, maintain the same in desired" position within the lower member. r)This is best shown in Fig. 5. rfhe upper end of the cutter teeth have a shoulder member G6, disposed thereupon of a suitable' shape to fit into the openings within the lower member 57, to properly locate the same and to maintain the same in desired position.

Because of the nature of the work to be done it is quite essential that some means of automatically stoppingl the reciprocating movement of the head be provided in the event that an obstruction should be met, or that the tooth carrox'fing` bar should in any way become clogged. To accomplish this, have placed within the reciprocatinghead a cushioning compensator to compensate for the equivalent of the length of stroke of the reciprocating` head. The rack is carried upon the4 reciprocating' head, butis not rigidly secured thereto, and the same has an elongated end '67, dispose-d below' the same. Passing transversely of the reciprocating head is a shaft 71, which passes through the lug' G8, on the underside of the elongated end. Around the shaftrl', are two Vcompression coilnsprings, 69 and TO, which are placed within the head under pressure and which react against the 'lug The lug' 68, passes through a slet in the upper side of the reciprocating head which is shown at 72 and TL, disposed at either side of the lug. As the'reciprocating head is shuntet. from one side to the other, and no ohstrnction'is met, the springs 69 and 70, having an eq pressure, maintain a balanced condition. ln the event, that an obstruction is met, in the part of the reciprocating head,'the spring' is compressed and no movement of the head occurs, though the remainder of the driving 'mechanism continues to operate, Under certainconditions' it may be found desirable to operate without these springs functioning, in which event, a key 7a is placed in position,

lll() Lit) l-seogllee shown at 74, so that a locked condition will prevail'b'etween the rack 35 and the reciproeating head. The rack 35, carries'guide strips 7 5, on either side of the same which are made to operate within the guideway 7 6. There the mechanism `is--to be drawn by animal or tractor draft, a draw bar may be attached to the eye 77, secured to the forward end of the frame-structure. In the event that a tractor is to be used for furnishing power for the operation and pulling of the mechanism the draw bar may be attached to the eye 77, and a suitable hook up as a chain or belt, be applied to the pulley or sprocket 78, for furnishing operating power for manipulating the reciprocating head. A friction clutch 79 is supplied to the pulley or sprocket shaft where this form of operation is used. In which event a suitable clutch lever 8O is used. I

lNhere the soil to be cultivated is finely pulverized and the treatment is one to prevent the hardening of the top surface and` the destruction of weeds, l prefer to use a cultivating tool, as shown in Fig. l1, wherein the teeth are fine and a line top surface will result. The cultivator, as shown in Fig. 1l, may be maintained in a fixed position at any angle to the line of travel of the cultivator.

A. shovel type of cutter tooth may be found most desirable where a cultivation of substantial depth is to be made. The shovel type of tooth is shown in Fig. 9, and Fig. 10, and is also adapted to being placed-and maintained at'any desired angle to properly cultivate the soil. This form of tooth is especially desirable where a soddy or weedy soil is encountered, especially as it is sharp on the edges and will cut as well asv cultivate. Y

The two forms of cultivator teeth here shown are made to illustrate the application and I do not wish to be limited to this form of teeth as it will be apparent that various and different forms of teeth may be utilized. i

Thile the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form of embodiment herein shown'and described,vas it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow:

lNhat I claim is l. An agricultural cultivator, comprising a structural frame mounted upon two primary wheels and a pilot wheel, a guideway mounted below the main frame, a head maintained within said guideway, means whereby a reciprocating motion may be imparted tov said head. within the guideway, n

said means comprising a rack,fa "pivotally mounted gear segment, a pitman and la crank disk mounted upon a rotatable shaft; and cutter-teeth disposed upon the lower side of said head.

An agricultural cultivator comprising a structural frame vmounted upontwo primary wheels and a pilotwheel, a guideway mounted below said main frame, a. reciprocable head maintained within the guideway, a means to raise and lower the guideway, said means comprising a shaft rotated by a lever, a bell crank secured to the shaft, and link connecting` the bell crank with the guideway; a means to impart a reciprocating movement to the head within the guideway, said'means consisting of a rack secured to the head, a pivotally mounted gear segment coacting with said rack, a crank disk mounted on a rotatable shaft, and a pitman connecting the crank disk with the arm-of the gear segment; and a. clutch to connect and disconnect the reciprocating means with a source of power.

3. An agricultural cultivator, comprising a main wheeled frame, a guideway disposed below the main frame, vertical guides disposed-within guideway support members. means to raise and lower the guideway within the vertical guides, said means comprising a shaft rotated by a lever, a bell crank secured to the shaft, and a link connecting the bell crank with the guideway; a head slidably mounted within the guidevva-y, the lower portion of the head held in hinged relationship with the upper portion of the head, means to limit the hinging movement of the lower portion of the head, and to maintain the same in a normal position. comprising a rod mounted on the guideway and parallel to the movement of the head, and a spring member having one end secured to the lower hinged portion of the head, awhook formed at the Aother end thereof and slidably contacting` with said rod; and cutter teeth disposed upori the lower side'of the lower hinged member.

4L. An agricultural cultivator, comprising a main wheeledrframe, a guideway mounted.

below the main frame. a reciprocable toothed head mounted within the guideway, springs disposed in the line of movement of the toothed head, at the ends of the guideway, to absorb the shock of the reciprocating movement of the head, means disposed within the frame structure. to raise and .lower the guideway and means to reciprocate the head, said means consisting of a rack Lmounted upon the head, a gear segment coacting therewith, a crank disk mounted upon a shaft, a pitman connecting said crank disk with an arm of the gear segment, and a clutch to engage and disengage said shaft with the source of power.

` 5. An agricultural eultvator, comprising a main Wheeled frame, a suspended guide- Way, a head reeiprocably mounted Within the gnideway, shock absorbing cushions disposed in the path of the head, a toothed 5 hinged member disposed upon the lower side of the head, means to limit the hinging movement of the hinged tooth member and to maintain the Same in a normal position, comprising a rod mounted on the guideway and parallel to the movement of the head, and a spring member having one end Secured to the hinged tooth member, and hav ing a hook formed at the other end thereof and slidably contacting' with said rod; and a lever system to raise and lower .the guide- Way.

ABeALoM is. COUNTS, 

